Jean francois le moulnier



. UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

JEAN FRANCOIS LE MOULNIER, @E NEW YORK, N. Y.

CONSTRUCTING PAVEMENTS, &o.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 12,136', dated.k January 2, 1855.

T 0 all whom may concern Be it known that I, JEAN FRANQoIs LE MOULNIER,of New York city, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPaving for Roadways and other Purposes, of which the following is a afull, clear, and exact description, reference beingv had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which-Figure l, is a plan of a roadway paved; Fig. 2, a cross verticalsectio-n of the same; Fig. 3, a perspective view of a block pre-y paredfor paving; Fig. 4, an elevation of the same; Figs. 5 and 6, verticalsections of. a block representing the block of stone in the rough statewith the sides and bottom brought to the required. form by thiscomposition cast around it; Fig. 7 is a` plan of the bottom; and Figs. 8and 9, vertical sections of the mold employed in casting the compositionaround the block.

The same letters indicate like parts in the several figures.

The object of my invention is to pave roadways with blocks of stonefitted to, and interlocking each other, so that the joints shall beclose, and the whole locked together, and effect this without the laborand expense of dressing the several blocks. And to this'end the natureof my invention consists in giving the required shape to rough blocks ofgranite or other suitable stone, with tongues and grooves, or otherequivalent form for interlocking the several blocks in forming a roadwayor other structure, by casting a preparation of asphaltum around theseparate blocks placed in suitable molds which determine the form to begiven, whereby each block, however rough, will receive the precise formrequired to make a pavement with close joints, and with the blocksinterlocked. And my invention also consists in the employment of acompound of asphaltum, bastenne, or pitch, and cinders, or coal ashes,or pulverized stone coal, or sand, or other equivalent substance,thoroughly amalgamated in the heated state, to cast around the blocks ofstone to obtain the required form. And my invention also consists inheating the blocks of stone, before the asphalt compound is cast aroundthem, by means of which the compound is made to adhere thoroughly to thesurface of the stone.

I take blocks of granite or other suitable stone of an appropriate sizefor paving a road way, orrfor 'other purposes, and with the upper facesuited to such purposes,` and .these I bring to the form and sizerequired on the four sides, and bottom also, if required, by placingthem in suitable molds,

and cast around them the composition to be hereafter specified.

For this purpose I prepare molds, such as ing let into grooves made inthe other two,

and the four let into grooves in the bottom a, and held down by hooks d,which enter staples e, attached to the bottom near the outer edges. Thefour sides are then bound together by a surrounding strap The inside ofthe mold should be smooth and the exact reverse of the intended form ofthe blocks, and two of the sidesformed with a projecting tongue g, andthe other two with a corresponding groove la. The sides are mademovable, so that the mold may be taken apart to liberate the blocksafter they have been formed, as they should be parallel on two sides andslightly tapering on the other two `sides to suit the arch form of theroadway, and as the blocks are molded in an inverted position, the moldwill be wider at bottom than at top.

VIt is immaterial what the form of the blocks may be, and how rough andirregu-y lar, except on that face which is to form the surface of theroadway.

The blocks are put into molds formed as above described, in an invertedposition, that is, face downward, the inner surface 0f the mold havingbeen previously greased or coated with any other substance which willprevent the asphalt compound from adhering.

I take a kettle or caldron of suitable capacity provided with a lid, andplaced over a furnace which will lapply a gentle and uniform heat, toprevent overheating the asphaltum which would thereby be renderedworthless. `In this caldron I first put about five per cent. of tar,bastenne, or mineral pitch, and then put in the asphaltum which solvingthe asphaltum, and to make it run and mingle freely, otherwise it wouldbe next to impossible to prevent the asphaltum from being injured byheat. And another important object is to make it run freely in casting,for Without 'this it would not run into the sinuosities of the stone andwould not thoroughly adhere. After the asphaltum is melted, and aboutthree quarters baked, as it is termed, I add about seventy five percent. in bulk, of calcined cinders or coal ashes, or, where coal ischeap, pulverized coal, or bank or river sand. The sand should bethoroughly washed and separated from all foreign substances, and welldried, and put in through a sieve so as to spread it Well and evenlyover the surface, and thev whole should then be stirred, and the caldroncovered and the baking continued.

The blocks of stone are to be heated in an oven, or by a suitable fire,up to about 120o Fahrenheits scale, and put into the molds with the facedownward, and then the asphalt compound, when completely baked, which isindicated by a blue smoke escaping from it, is poured in and therepermitted to set and cool.

lVhen the blocks are removed from the molds they will be of regular formwith a tongue on two sides and a corresponding groove on the other twosides, and so regularly shaped as to interlock and lit together asperfectly and accurately as if chiseled to the required form. And itwill also be found that the asphalt compound is as hard as stone, and sothoroughly attached to the surface of the stone as not to be removabletherefrom except by breaking, which is very diiicult from the eXtremetoughness of the compound. And, what is of great importance, thecompound thus prepared will not be softened by t-he action of the sun atthe highest temperature.

When the blocks of stone have 'not sufcient depth, in lling in themolds, fragments of stone are put in; but these must be thoroughlyheated before putting them in. The object is to have the face of eachblock of the required size, and form, or approximately, so, and then thesides and bottom can be filled out by fragments cemented by pouring inthe asphalt compound. The blocks being thus formed, the roadway is madeby properly grading, and covering the surface to the proper depth withsand, and sufficiently arched for drainage.

The grade of the surface should correspond with the arch determined onin forming the molds, as the blocks, when shaped, will not.- fitproperly for any other grade.

After the blocks 'L' prepared as above, have been laid as represented inFigs. l and 2, the gutters at the junction of the side walks can then bemade by blocks y', brought to the required form by casting the asphaltcompound around in suitable molds. The blocks being accurately fittedand interlocked with each other and formed into series of arches willnot require much support from the foundation. And to prevent filtration,whichfis the fruitful source of injury to foundations, care should betaken to close the joints thoroughly at the side gutters by running `inthe asphalt compound in the heated and liquid state.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the interlocking ofthe blocks by mea-ns of tongues and grooves, as any form can be adoptedfor the junction of the blocks. Nor as limiting myself to the paving ofroadways, as my improved method is applicable to the roadways ofbridges, the construction of bridges, the side walks, vaults, Cellars,sewers and similar works.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

Effecting the thorough union of the asphalt compound, or any equivalenttherefor, and stone, by heating the blocks of stone previouslysubstantially as specified.

LE MOULNIER. Witnesses:

W. B. NoNEs, MICHAEL DRURY.

